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Yann Martel
Novelist
Yann Martel is the author of The High Mountains of Portugal and Life of Pi, the #1 international bestseller and winner of the 2002 Man Booker (among many other prizes). He is also the award-winning author ofThe Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios (winner of the Journey Prize), Self, Beatrice & Virgil, and 101 Letters to a Prime Minister. Born in Spain in 1963, Martel studied philosophy at Trent University, worked at odd jobs—tree planter, dishwasher, security guard—and traveled widely before turning to writing. He lives in Saskatoon, Canada, with the writer Alice Kuipers and their four children.
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4 min
A tiny germ of an idea leads to research, which leads to further ideas and then more research. Eventually the writer has hundreds of pages of notes to work from.
4 min
Martel never bases his characters on real people—they’re always a vehicle for something he wants to express.
8 min
The major religions have all had their excesses, but there’s something about spiritual thinking that augments a life.
11 min
Allegorical fiction can take very complex realities and convey them in powerful, emotional, psychologically accurate way.
41 min
A conversation with the Man Booker Prize-winning novelist.